Holmes Towers

History

As of 1973, the Towers were described as being home to white, elderly residents. 60 percent of the apartments in Holmes Towers are set aside for tenants over the age of 62.

The Isaacs Houses projects are located just north of the Holmes Towers. Both developments are considered one complex totaling 5 buildings having the same Development Management Office managed by New York City Housing Authority. They represent the only public housing on the Upper East Side. Both housing projects, as a whole, have been designated a "high crime zone" by the New York City Police Department's 19th precinct. Crime, however, is considered to be relatively minimal compared to the projects further north.

In 2018, the Holmes Towers along with Isaacs Houses and Robbins Plaza ranked the worst in the nation after federal inspections by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Public private partnership pilot

In 2015 it was announced that the complex's playground would be razed for a new mixed-use building under New York's NextGen program to help meet the capital needs of NYCHA. The 47-story tower was intended to be half affordable housing and half market rate housing with the lower-income tenants on the lower floors. Holmes Towers residents decried the plan, citing the lack of sunlight would lower their quality of life and lacked input in the plans, later staging a protest.

In order to build the towers, property developer and de Blasio donor Fetner Properties would lease the land from NYCHA for $25 million for 99-years, pocketing all rent, qualifying for $13 million in subsidies, and paying no property taxes. In 2019, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer sued Mayor Bill de Blasio and NYCHA to block the new tower. The lawsuit accused de Blasio of trying to use his power to push the towers through illegally by skirting zoning laws and not having the project go through Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP).

NYCHA withdrew the plan in 2019.

References

References

1. (August 2024). "Holmes TowersArea".
2. (August 2024). ["Holmes Towers Population"](https://my.nycha.info/DevPortal/Portal/DevelopmentData}}{{Dead link).
3. "MyNYCHA Developments Portal".
4. (23 February 1973). "Widow, 84, Found Stabbed to Death In 92d St. Project". New York Times.
5. (6 February 2017). "The Second Avenue Subway Is Here!". The New Yorker.
6. (10 November 2002). "NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: UPPER EAST SIDE; With Affluence All Around, A Little Crime Seems a Lot". New York Times.
7. (11 September 2018). "Three NYCHA developments on the Upper East Side ranked among the worst in the U.S.". 6sqft.
8. (2015-09-14). "Some Residents Of UES Housing Complex Worried About NYCHA Development Plans".
9. Nahmias, Laura. (2015-09-09). "NYCHA selects Wyckoff Gardens, Holmes Towers for new development".
10. Smith, Greg B.. (2017-05-18). "NYCHA plans to stick lower-income residents on bottom floors of new building to give wealthier tenants the top market-rate homes".
11. Fitzsimmons, Daniel. (2015-10-27). "Tenants Protest Housing Plan".
12. Smith, Greg B.. (May 18, 2017). "EXCLUSIVE: Developer who won NYCHA bid to build apartment tower is big de Blasio donor, records reveal".
13. (9 July 2020). "Residents Harbor Deep Misgivings About Mayor's Plan to Save NYCHA". City Limits.
14. (17 June 2019). "NYCHA backtracks on 50-story Upper East Side infill tower". Curbed.